Van in Rt. 22 crash carried 12 illegal immigrants, police say

ICE detains 11

A dozen illegal immigrants turned up in a van that was rear-ended by a truck Friday on Route 22 in South Whitehall Township, police said.

The illegal immigrants were taken to Lehigh County Prison and handed over to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, state police at Bethlehem said Monday night.

An ICE spokesman in Philadelphia confirmed today that the agency has taken custody of the driver and 10 van passengers.

"We reviewed 13 people," Mark Medvesky, the ICE spokesman, said. "One had a warrant on him and was detained by local law enforcement. One we had no interest in. That person was released. The others were detained."

Jose R. Crespo-Gradio, 25, no address given, was driving the van east on Route 22 at 5 p.m. when he braked for heavy traffic and was hit from behind, police said.

Police said the immigrants were not being followed by troopers when the crash occurred.

"We weren't investigating them," a state police spokesman said. "If there hadn't been an accident, we wouldn't have checked who they were."

Medvesky said ICE cannot not say much about the 12 men except that they will have a chance to present a legal defense at immigration court.

"They were detained," he said. "Beyond that, I can't talk specifics because immigration is protected by DHS [Department of Homeland Security] privacy policy."

Medvesky said ICE may look later at whether to take action against the 13th man, Jose Cano-Cano, 38. Cano-Cano was taken to Northampton County Prison, but it appeared he had not been arraigned as of Tuesday night.

One of Crespo-Gradio's passengers, Jose A. Figueroa-Marales, 32, was hurt slightly in the collision, police said. He was not hospitalized. No one else was injured.

Edward D. Hersch, 46, was driving his truck behind the van, police said. Hersch was charged with driving at an unsafe speed.

As soon as Hersch hit the rear of Crespo-Gradio's van, a tractor-trailer crashed into the rear of Hersch's truck, police said. The tractor-trailer was driven by John P. O'Donnell, 51, of Easton.